Ms. Rosenthal’s story is about how this poor woman, Wanda Wickizer, got trapped in the dysfunction of the healthcare system’s coding system.

Wanda Wickizer should have been insured through Obamacare. However, through the inefficiencies of the government or Ms. Wickizer lack of understanding of Obamacare she did not have insurance.

The healthcare system makes no provisions for billing the uninsured.

There are multiple prices charged for treatments and procedures. Hospital systems and physician groups have their own individual retail prices for services and procedures.

These providers negotiate prices with the government and the healthcare insurance industry.

There are many different prices negotiated by many different providers with the healthcare insurance industry. A healthcare insurance company negotiates many of the government’s final prices. The healthcare insurance company acts as the surrogate for the government.

None of these prices are transparent.

There is no one that negotiates price for the uninsured. The uninsured are responsible for the retail price of the services rendered unless they can negotiate a better price.

$16,000 from Sentara Norfolk (not including the scan or the E.R. doctor), $50,000 for the air ambulance.

Her local hospital

By the end of January, there was also one for $24,000 from the University of Virginia Physicians’ Group: charges for some of the doctors at the medical center. “I thought, O.K., that’s not so bad,” Wickizer recalls.

A month later, a bill for $54,000 arrived from the same physicians’ group, which included further charges and late fees.

Then a separate bill came just for the hospital’s charges, containing a demand for $356,884.42 but little in the way of comprehensible explanation.”

The uninsured are the only people who are responsible for the original retail prices. All the rest of the payment providers, namely the government and various members of the healthcare insurance industry pay their negotiated fees.

Shouldn’t the government pass a law requiring hospitals and doctors to charge only Medicare prices to the uninsured? It would eliminate Ms. Wickizer bill, a bill that reflects retail prices for services rendered.

The big mistake the University of Virginia made was that it did not provide her with a line item bill identifying the price of each service and procedure.

The University of Virginia subsequently refused to provide a line item bill to the patient. It was as if the university was hiding something.

Any thoughtful hospital administrator would have solved the problem in a minute.

It must be remembered that each provider has a different retail price per procedure and service. The reasoning is that they are trying to collect the highest amount they can.

The patient could then figure out what Medicare pays for those services and procedures.

However none of these line item charges are in the patients (EOB) Explanation Of Benefits. The EOB is impossible to interpret.

A simple rule should be passed by congress or issued by CMS saying a clear explanation of charges is required for payment of the bill.

The Obama administration knew about this uninsured billing problem. It did nothing about it because it wanted to force patients into buying Obamacare insurance even if they couldn’t afford it or didn’t need it.

I believe Tom Price M.D. (President Trump’s head of CMS) is aware of the problem. He also understands this simple way of solving it.

The healthcare insurance industry and the government get a detailed EOB for services rendered through the CPT coding system first established in 1978.

The Obama administration added 74,000 new codes to the CPT coding system. The government and the insurance companies wanted to know what they were paying for in detail.

This led to the requirement for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and then meaningful use EMRs. Physicians and hospital systems will not get paid if they do not have a meaningful use EMR this year.

This led to a very expensive EMR development industry. EMRs were expensive. They did not function as meaningful use EMRs. They had to undergo extensive upgrades.

An EMR function should really be a teaching tool, teaching physicians how to upgrade their services to the best evidence based medicine practices.

Instead it has become a tool for the government and the healthcare insurance industry to punish patients.

The EMRs are unaffordable to many physicians. It has force them to sign up to become hospital system employees.

The government should have built a universal EMR in the cloud and charged physicians by the click.

The increase in codes led to an expensive coding industry. People are trained to teach physicians and hospital systems how to use the new 88,00 codes correctly.

The industry essentially teaches those providers how to how to game the healthcare system so that they can collect the most money for their services from the government and the healthcare insurance industry.

The goal of the government is to reduce reimbursement to providers.

Where is the consideration for patients in all of these maneuvers?

Where is the consideration for the uninsured patients?

Ms. Rosenthal’s main point is that CPT gaming by the medical professions and hospital systems are driving up healthcare costs.

However, missing from her argument is who developed the dysfunction CPT system.

Why was it developed?

Why was coding made so complex that it drives users of the coding system to game the system?

Ms. Rosenthal’s story is about how this poor woman, Wanda Wickizer, got trapped in the dysfunction of the healthcare system’s coding system.

Wanda Wickizer should have been insured through Obamacare. However, through the inefficiencies of the government or Ms. Wickizer lack of understanding of Obamacare she did not have insurance.

The healthcare system makes no provisions for billing the uninsured.

There are multiple prices charged for treatments and procedures. Hospital systems and physician groups have their own individual retail prices for services and procedures.

These providers negotiate prices with the government and the healthcare insurance industry.

There are many different prices negotiated by many different providers with the healthcare insurance industry. A healthcare insurance company negotiates many of the government’s final prices. The healthcare insurance company acts as the surrogate for the government.

None of these prices are transparent.

There is no one that negotiates price for the uninsured. The uninsured are responsible for the retail price of the services rendered unless they can negotiate a better price.

$16,000 from Sentara Norfolk (not including the scan or the E.R. doctor), $50,000 for the air ambulance.

Her local hospital

By the end of January, there was also one for $24,000 from the University of Virginia Physicians’ Group: charges for some of the doctors at the medical center. “I thought, O.K., that’s not so bad,” Wickizer recalls.

A month later, a bill for $54,000 arrived from the same physicians’ group, which included further charges and late fees.

Then a separate bill came just for the hospital’s charges, containing a demand for $356,884.42 but little in the way of comprehensible explanation.”

The uninsured are the only people who are responsible for the original retail prices. All the rest of the payment providers, namely the government and various members of the healthcare insurance industry pay their negotiated fees.

Shouldn’t the government pass a law requiring hospitals and doctors to charge only Medicare prices to the uninsured? It would eliminate Ms. Wickizer bill, a bill that reflects retail prices for services rendered.

The big mistake the University of Virginia made was that it did not provide her with a line item bill identifying the price of each service and procedure.

The University of Virginia subsequently refused to provide a line item bill to the patient. It was as if the university was hiding something.

Any thoughtful hospital administrator would have solved the problem in a minute.

It must be remembered that each provider has a different retail price per procedure and service. The reasoning is that they are trying to collect the highest amount they can.

The patient could then figure out what Medicare pays for those services and procedures.

However none of these line item charges are in the patients (EOB) Explanation Of Benefits. The EOB is impossible to interpret.

A simple rule should be passed by congress or issued by CMS saying a clear explanation of charges is required for payment of the bill.

The Obama administration knew about this uninsured billing problem. It did nothing about it because it wanted to force patients into buying Obamacare insurance even if they couldn’t afford it or didn’t need it.

I believe Tom Price M.D. (President Trump’s head of CMS) is aware of the problem. He also understands this simple way of solving it.

The healthcare insurance industry and the government get a detailed EOB for services rendered through the CPT coding system first established in 1978.

The Obama administration added 74,000 new codes to the CPT coding system. The government and the insurance companies wanted to know what they were paying for in detail.

This led to the requirement for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and then meaningful use EMRs. Physicians and hospital systems will not get paid if they do not have a meaningful use EMR this year.

This led to a very expensive EMR development industry. EMRs were expensive. They did not function as meaningful use EMRs. They had to undergo extensive upgrades.

An EMR function should really be a teaching tool, teaching physicians how to upgrade their services to the best evidence based medicine practices.

Instead it has become a tool for the government and the healthcare insurance industry to punish patients.

The EMRs are unaffordable to many physicians. It has force them to sign up to become hospital system employees.

The government should have built a universal EMR in the cloud and charged physicians by the click.

The increase in codes led to an expensive coding industry. People are trained to teach physicians and hospital systems how to use the new 88,00 codes correctly.

The industry essentially teaches those providers how to how to game the healthcare system so that they can collect the most money for their services from the government and the healthcare insurance industry.

The goal of the government is to reduce reimbursement to providers.

Where is the consideration for patients in all of these maneuvers?

Where is the consideration for the uninsured patients?

Ms. Rosenthal’s main point is that CPT gaming by the medical professions and hospital systems are driving up healthcare costs.

However, missing from her argument is who developed the dysfunction CPT system.

Why was it developed?

Why was coding made so complex that it drives users of the coding system to game the system?

Ms. Rosenthal usually points out defects in the healthcare system in great detail. She usually ignores the primary causes of those defects which leads to stakeholders’ adjustments.

Those adjustments lead to abuses of both the healthcare system and consumers utilizing the healthcare system.

It is important for all consumers and politicians (designated surrogates of consumers) to understand these abuses in detail.

It is doubly important that consumers and politicians understand the primary causes for these abuses.

The ideal goal would be to fix the primary causes so that stakeholders cannot abuse the system. In Ms. Rosenthal’s case study the University of Virginia’s bureaucrats are the decision makers who are far removed from the primarily medical care of patients.

They are far removed from the development of a physician/patient relationship. The patient/physician relationship is so vital to the success of a healthcare system.

These bureaucrats are immune to the tragedy that had befallen Ms. Rosenthal’s example, Ms. Wanda Wickizer. They are stuck in the rules its organization made or their interpretation of these rules.

There does not seem to be any flexibility built into the University of Virginia’s Medical School billing system.

The patient in Ms. Rosenthal story is not entirely immune to the disaster that occurred subsequently.

Her husband died in 2006. He had great city of Norfolk Virginia health insurance. The city of Norfolk continued providing her and her kids with insurance for the next three years.

“After his death, Wanda Wickizer worked in a series of low-wage jobs, but none provided health insurance. A minor pre-existing condition — she was taking Lexapro, a common medicine for depression — meant that her only insurance option was to obtain Obamacare insurance through a health insurance exchange in 2010.

In 2009 only ineffective and costly state administered “high-risk pools” were available. High risk pools disappeared in 2010 with the passage of Obamacare.

She said she could not afford her Obamacare option. However, she did not consider the Obamacare option in her economic condition. Obamacare would have subsidized her insurance coverage up to 100%.

“She thought she would need to pay more than $800 per month for a policy with a $5,000 deductible, and her medical procedures would then be reimbursed at 80 percent. She felt she couldn’t afford that.”

She made a decision that did not take into account a potential medical catastrophe.

“In 2011, she decided to temporarily stop working to tend to her children, which qualified them for Medicaid; with trepidation, she left herself uninsured.”

At this point she probably would, also, have qualified for Medicaid or gotten insurance through the health insurance exchanges that would have been subsidized up to 100% by Obamacare.

Additionally, after she was sick she could have applied for Obamacare insurance. She would have supposedly received full insurance coverage at no cost to her. The application for Obamacare after the onset of an illness is one of the major objections to Obamacare.

This is a defect in Ms. Rosenthal’s story. It could have easily been avoided if Ms. Wickizer applied for insurance available to her at minimal charge.

The casual reader of the Sunday NYT magazine section could easily overlook this defect.

The rest of the story is about the billing catastrophe. Ms. Rosenthal exposes all the defects in the healthcare billing system structure.

A catastrophic illness struck Wanda Wickizer on Christmas Day 2013. It was a subarachnoid hemorrhage that can strike at any time.

“The catastrophe struck Wanda Wickizer on Christmas Day 2013.”

It occurred four years after Obamacare was enacted. She had a debilitating headache. The ambulance paramedics missed the diagnosis. They thought she had food poisoning and did not take her to the hospital.

Later, she, at 3 a.m. became confused and groggy. Her boyfriend raced her to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. A CAT scan revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital felt it could not handle the subarachnoid hemorrhage and air evacuated her by helicopter to University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville 160 miles away.

At UVM the hemorrhage was stopped and the previous accumulation of blood evacuated. She was in the hospital for 3 weeks. When she was home the catastrophe of the healthcare system coding process began.

Ms. Wanda Wickzer’s story will be continued in Part 2 of Those Indecipherable Medical Bills? CPT Coding Is One Reason Health Care Costs So Much

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

Every year I have gone away with each of my sons, Brad and Daniel for a weekend. We just talk about our lives and have a good time being with each other.

I figure it is good for our health. The boys agree.

My readers have had an extremely positive response to past where I have written about these one on one trips.

Readers know my bother and I are very close. He also lives in Dallas. We meet and have a pastrami sandwich together once a month whether we need it or not.

We have also gone away for weekends in the past with all the Feld men, my two sons and my brother’s two sons.

These weekends have been great for all of us. My sons live in Boulder Colorado, Kenny lives in Atlanta and Jon lives in Dallas.

The boys were close as kids. They have not gotten together very much in the last few years.

However, they love the weekends we have had to bond and just have fun.

It has been very difficult to get everyone together the past four years. This year Brad was determined to make it work. He got tickets to the NCAA finals.

The notification said anyone who can come should come. Unfortunately, Daniel could not come. He and his family were going to be in Japan that week.

The Feld Men have officially added a new member to the group. Jon's son Jack is now 16.

Jack is a very smart kid. He kept up with all of our conversations. He even taught us a bunch of things.

I welcome Jack to the club!

My brother and I took 7.30 am Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix on Friday March 31.

Kenny, Jon and Jack were not coming in until Saturday at 10.am. Brad was in Scottsdale for the previous month.

Charlie and I decided we wanted to hang out with Steve Hochschuler and his wife Kim all day Friday.

Steve is co-founder of Texas Back Institute. He has been a good friend since 1970. We both graduated from Columbia College.

Steve now lives in Desert Mountain part-time. He and Kim showed us a great time. Desert Mountain is very upscale. There are lots of big houses, and fancy cars.

There are very few trucks in his neighborhood. Steve has been irreverent all of his life. Steve has the biggest truck with the biggest and bad-est tires I have ever seen.

Their house is magnificent. Lunch and diner at local Desert Mountain restaurants were wonderful.

Steve and Kim took us to a neighbor’s house for a wine tasting with food before dinner. Both the wine and the food were out of sight.

They are living the good life.

This was a good start for the weekend. Charlie and I then drove to the Sanctuary in Paradise Valley to meet up with Brad.

The house Brad rented was beautiful. It had a pool and a tennis court with magnificent mountain views.

I was so tired I fell asleep instantly.

On Saturday morning Jon, Kenny and Jack all arrived at 10 am. We went out for breakfast/brunch to a place Brad and Amy found called Scramble.

Scramble looks like a PF Changs with menus on the sidewall as you wait on line to order and choose your food. The have everything from the simple breakfast to the most exotic omelets, waffles and pancakes.

We ate enough breakfast for a week but we were not finished.

Our next stop was Dairy Queen. This old Dairy Queen was a standout in a contemporary designed Scottsdale shopping center.

Neither Jon, Kenny nor Jack ever had a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

Brad and I told them they had to have a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard.

All three were hesitant by finally complied.

They all loved it.

DQ icream thick enough not to spill.

Next back to the Sanctuary and Brad’s house. It was time to hang out with each other.

After a while we all took our Feld traditional afternoon nap.

I learned to nap in a chair as a medical intern in 1963.

The “car” picked us up at 2:15 for a 5:09 starting time for Gonzaga vs. South Carolina. The games were being played at the Arizona Cardinals football field in Glendale Arizona.

It was far from Scottsdale and the traffic on Saturday afternoon was horrible.

Brad had Jon pick the seats because Jon was experienced in watching basketball in a football stadium.

He picked great seats on the 50 yard line in row D of the first deck. The people watching on the floor had to strain their necks. They were always looking up. The playing field was raised a couple of feet.

The North Carolina vs. Oregon game followed. It thought both games stunk. All four teams had terrible shooting percentages.

The television timeouts were endless. They took up more time than the regular timeouts. It became annoying.

The food was the typical terrible stadium food. Some stadiums and arenas I have been to have pretty good food including Coors Field, Fenway Park, the Yankee Stadium and the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

After the games we found our driver easily. He was a master of heavy traffic driving and got us home nicely.

All of us were bushed except for Jack. He was hungry. He wanted a hamburger at 10:30 pm. I guess this is what happens when you are a sixteen year old.

On Sunday morning we all met at 9:30 a.m. for a 9:45 a.m. reservation at Rita’s Kitchen at the suggestion of Kim Hochschuler.

She took Cecelia and me to Rita’s once before. The atmosphere was as good as ever. It was a two and a half hour brunch.

After brunch some quiet time at the Sanctuary. At about 2:30 I went to the fitness center to work out and then to the pool.

We had a six o’clock reservation at the Wildfish Sea Food Grille in Scottsdale. Jack picked up the fact that the font on the menu and the description of the dishes were the same as Eddie V’s in Dallas.

Everyone wiped out their cell phones to see if there was a relationship. There is. The Darden Restaurant chain owns both restaurants as well as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Seasons 52 and the Capital Grille.

Three of us had steak and three had fish. The waiter was upset that the chef undercooked the steaks. He complimented desert for the table.

I was afraid we were all going to miss the hot fudge sundaes at the Sugar Bowl in Downtown Scottsdale.

The desert was fair. They did not have chocolate ice cream in the restaurant.

After diner we went back to Brad’s rental house. We all watched 1941. I thought it was the dumbest movie I ever saw.

It was a 1979 flick for teenage boys. My bother and Kenny baled after 20 minutes. I stay to the end. Brad and Jon were teenagers in 1979. They thought it was great then but lousy now.

Monday was the day of the finals between Gonzaga and North Carolina.

We had lunch at a Sports Bar. Then we finally got to the Sugar Bowl to have their fabulous hot fudge sundae.

Brad and me eating at Sugar Bowl

We left for the NCAA Final at 2:30 to beat the traffic for a 6:09 p.m. game.

I will not complain about the traffic in Dallas, Texas anymore. We got to the stadium at 5:30 p.m.

Both teams played a lousy game. Shooting percentage for both was under 40%. Free throw percentage was not much better.

However, the festival of the NCAA final and the excitement of the crowd made the lousy game worth it.

When we arrived at Brad’s house Jack needed a hamburger at 10:30 p.m. again.

I went to sleep immediately because we were leaving for the airport at 5.15 a.m.

I slept on the plane for the entire ride home.

This was another successful “Feld Men’s Trip.” I can’t wait until next year.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are mine and mine alone.

Medicare did not cover outpatient prescription drugs until January 1, 2006, when it implemented the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.

Congress authorized Medicare Part D with the heading the "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003."

Private insurance companies administer Medicare Part D plans for the government. The government is not allowed to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies.

The VA healthcare system negotiates prices with the pharmaceutical companies. The prices are at least 60% lower than the Part D prices.

Multiple plans are offered with increasing premium prices and deductibles each year.

The increases in deductibles are significant. Below are the increases between 2016 and 2017. Most seniors do not pay attention to the increase in premiums, deductibles or coverage because they automatically enroll each year.

They become aware of the changes changes when they go to pay for their medication

 Initial Coverage Limit: will increase from $3,310 in 2016 to $3,700 in 2017.

 Out-of-Pocket Threshold: will increase from $4,850 in 2016 to $4,950 in 2017.

 Coverage Gap (donut hole): begins once you reach your Medicare Part D plan’s initial coverage limit ($3,700 in 2017) and ends when you spend a total of $4,950 in 2017.

In 2017, Part D enrollees will receive a 60% discount on the total retail cost of their brand-name drugs purchased while in the donut hole.

Generally, not all drugs are covered at the same out of pocket cost to the beneficiary. This gives participants incentives to choose certain drugs over others. This is most often implemented—as is the case for drug coverage for those not on Medicare—through incentives to use generic drugs over brand-name drugs.

The incentive is also often implemented via a system of tiered formularies in which some brand-name drugs are less expensive than others and not subject to step therapy.

Generic drugs are less expensive than brand named drugs. Patients learned this quickly. They encouraged their physicians to provide them with a prescription for generic drugs.

When patients buy drugs with Medicare Part D the deductible price is the patients’ cash outlay. However, the Medicare Part D plan charges patients the total retail price of the drug against their donut.

For example if a 90 day supply of a generic drug is $10 and the retail price is $60 dollars, the $60 is charged against the patient’s donut to be added to future purchases.

If patients paid $10 cash already shouldn’t only $50 of the $60 be charged against the donut?

Many generics can be purchased for a cash price or using a discount drug card coupon for $10 without using Medicare Part D and incurring the $60 retail charge against a donut.

Many generics can be purchased for less using a discount drug card coupon than the cash price a senior on Medicare Part D has to pay using Medicare Part D insurance.

It is not uncommon for senior patients to reach their donut in less than a year. At that time those senior patients have to pay 100% (60% in 2017) of the retail price for a drug until they reach $4,950.

The amount is an additional cash price of $1,250.

It was difficult to figure this out before discount drug cards became available.

How do these discount drugs card work and the discount drug card companies make money?

None of these government policy manipulations are to senior recipients of Medicare Part D advantage. They all benefit the middlemen.

A simple solution is to change the Medicare Part D law so the government can negotiate the cost of drugs just as all the middlemen in the Discounted Drug Card industry are negotiating the price of drugs to the advantage of seniors.

Sometimes the discount cards yield different discounts in different pharmacies in the same zip code.

Sometimes the pharmaceutical companies figure out how to combine two medications that are just as effective when taken separately to increase the cash price to senior patients.

These companies do it with FDA approval.

I became aware of the vast price differences recently with two commonly used drugs Dutasterile (Brand name Avodart) and Tamusulosin (Flow Max). Both drugs have been on the market long enough to be sold as generic drugs.

Using the Good RX discount card these are the variation in prices for the combination drug and the drugs sold separately in one zip code.

Dutasterilde +

Tamsulosin 90

Dutasterile 90

Tamusulosin 90

Walgreens

$183.00

$183.08

$113.93

Kroger

$316.98

$45.61

$30.62

CVS

$388.69

$84.63

$58.62

Tom Thumb

$391.85

49.85

$31.85

Albertson

$391.60

$52.60

$31.85

Walmart

$475.10

$398.71

$55.23

Target

$388.69

$388.71

$136.41

Table 1

None of the pharmacies receive an appropriate discount for the combination of Dutasterile plus Tamulosin. Only Kroger’s negotiator received an appropriate discount for the two drugs sold separately. The total price is $76.23 for 90 pills vs. $316.98 for the combination.

However, seniors have run into a problem in shopping for the best price in a neighborhood.

The government provides a bonus to physician practices that have meaningful use electronic medical records.

One criterion for a meaningful use electronic medical record is the electronically ordering prescriptions for patients.

If a patient usually used the Wal-Mart Pharmacy that telephone number would be in the record. The physician’s prescription would automatically be sent to the Wal-Mart Pharmacy. If the physician wrote for the combination for it would cost $475.10. If the physician wrote the prescription for each medication separately in would cost the patient $453.94 as opposed to cost him $76.23 at Kroger’s.

Compounding the complexity of the electric medical records unintended consequence the pharmacist would automatically fill the combination prescription using that senior’s Medicare Part D insurance. It would be much cheaper than the cash price.

The senior would pay only $146.50 for the combination but his donut would be charged the full retail price of $475.10.

The physician’s office should be aware of the difference in price between the generic combination and the generic drugs sold separately. However, that is not the physicians job.

He should be able to give the patient a paper prescription for both the combination and separate medication so the patient would be able to shop for the best price in his zip code if he was so inclined.

Clearly Medicare Part D is a mess and needs straightening out.

The discount drug cards are not the answer on top of the rising Medicare Part D premiums.

Many retired seniors are living month to month on a pension. The Medicare Part D premiums are paid with after tax dollars not pre-tax dollars.

Many seniors simply cannot afford to pay for their medication. If they do not take their medication they will develop complications of their disease.

Medicare Part A and B will cost the government more and become more unsustainable.

A few simple fixes can solve the problems in Medicare Part D that policy makers and congressmen do not seem to be aware of.

Patients must be responsible for their medical care and their healthcare dollars.

It would be nice if the government would help a little with fixes in information and policies that work for senior patients.

In the meantime it is imperative to “Let the Patient Beware.”

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are mine and mine alone.

This means only 2,240,000 people signed up in President Obama’s Health Insurance Exchanges.

It also means that there were 11,760,000 new Medicaid or S-Chip patients.

Edmund F. Haislmaier concluded in testimony to congress;

“While the final figures will be somewhat different once the more complete end of year data is available, at this point it is reasonable to expect that

for the three year period 2014 through 2016, the net increase in health insurance enrollment was 16.5 million individuals. Of that figure, 13.8 million were added to Medicaid and 2.7 million were the net increase in private sector coverage enrollment.”

Eighty-five percent of the 2.7 million have pre-existing conditions. Most are receiving government subsidies.

The 2.7 million covered under Obamacare have destabilized the healthcare insurance market so that healthcare costs for businesses have become unaffordable.

No one has even mentioned the cost of this Obamacare folly to the average hard working taxpayers with healthcare coverage from their employers.

Obamacare’s failure to has been devastating.

“The authors also found that nearly half the new Medicaid enrollees met eligibility standards that were in place before the ACA.”

Maybe Jonathan Gruber is right when he said we, the public, are too stupid to know the wool is being pulled over their eyes.

“For all the hoopla about the ACA exchanges, it appears that Medicaid accounts for the lion's share of coverage gains and that many new Medicaid enrollees would have been eligible for that program even if the ACA had never passed.”

Medicaid is a single party payer system (socialized medicine) that works very poorly. It is almost as bad as the VA Healthcare System.

Is this what the public wants? No

America needs a better healthcare system. Hopefully Dr. Tom Price knows what to do replace Obamacare with once he dismantles all of the Obama administrations regulation.

Maybe Jonathan Gruber is wrong.

The general taxpayer may be smarter than Dr. Gruber thinks. Maybe it is the reason the public elected Donald Trump.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

Diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, infertility and others high cost conditions are being charged higher deductibles, experiencing more prior-authorization for drugs, an increase in lesser quality substitution drugs, and often no coverage for the drugs they need.

Most of these conditions require long- term expensive medications.

Therefore consumers with these diseases cannot get treated adequately.

For example, a patient with multiple sclerosis might file a $61,000 claim.

Insurers lose money on every MS patient. An incentive is created for insurers to avoid enrolling patients with MS. The insurers then make its healthcare policy unattractive to people with multiple sclerosis.

Obamacare’s subsidy for patients with multiple sclerosis is inadequate for the cost of the disease’s care.

The insurer doesn’t want to loss $14,000 per patient. Patients are not stupid. They find the best coverage at the lowest price,

This insurer suffers high losses. He either leaves the market or decreases coverage. The perverse incentive leads to low quality care.

Patient with multiple sclerosis on Obamacare are not getting high quality healthcare.

Everyone losses. The government loses, the insurer loses but most of all the patient loses.

There is a better way to insure these people. In a free market system driven by my ideal medical saving accounts the creation of a high risk pool funded by all participating insurance companies in the lucrative private market spreads the risk to insurance companies and government while providing high quality care to qualified patients.

Politicians must start thinking smart.

The format of previous high-risk healthcare insurance pools was a disaster for all the stakeholders. High-risk pools can be formatted in a way that works for patients and does not contaminate the private market with spiraling insurance prices.

I was profoundly disappointed when The American Healthcare Act was introduced last week. There was immediate rejection by Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate.

The mainstream media commentators emphasized the Republicans’ rejections and added their own scornful objections. The mainstream media painted the Republican Party as a party is disarray.

The media was presumably giving a boost to the Democratic Party and Obamacare’s failure.

Both Paul Ryan and Dr. Tom Price gave complete explanations of their strategies on how this bill, along with its two other components, will repeal and replace Obamacare.

I was profoundly disappointed in the bill until I was able to hear Dr. Tom Price and Paul Ryan’s explanation of their reasons for the initial reconciliation bill and the plan of the other two components necessary for replacement.

Vice President Pence and President Donald Trump then repeated Ryan ad Price’s strategy in less detail.

By that time there was so much mainstream media noise and politician noise that It was impossible to hear what Tom Price and Paul Ryan were trying to say.

No one listened to what President Trump was trying to say. They were only listening to the media describing Republican caucus’ members outburst against the bill.

President Trump tweeted “it is a beautiful healthcare bill. Everyone will be happy with the result.”

No one listened. No one heard.

The mistake Ryan and Price made was that in the initial introduction of the bill they were being too cute, cunning and clandestine. In reality they were very prepared. They have been working of this repeal and replacement since 2010.

The plan to repeal and replace Obamacare has three parts.

Reconciliation

Administrative Action

Additional Action

It would be very helpful to understand their positions if you watch them explain their positions in their entirety.

This lecture by Paul Ryan is an excellent review of the metodology necessary to Repeal and Replace Obamacare

Both videos are a must see in order to understand the Trump administration and congressional leadership strategy.

Obamacare was supposed to provide an opportunity for people in the individual insurance market to buy healthcare insurance at an affordable price. It was not meant to affect the employer provided healthcare insurance market.

This was supposed to be done by State Health Insurance Exchanges that would supply this insurance. Much of the individual market would be subsided by the federal government..

Only 22 states signed up and most have failed after receiving over $200 billion dollar loans to cover startup cost. These state health insurance exchanges are never going to pay back the federal loans.

Additionally, Obamacare extended Medicaid coverage by increasing the poverty levels in states. This increased the eligibility for patients to participate in Medicaid.

President Obama completely ignored the fact that Medicaid was a financially unsustainable subsidy that was failing rapidly.

Thirty-three States signed up for this expanded Medicaid coverage because they were afraid to get stuck with the bill.

All states are supposed to have balanced budgets. Most states have budget deficits.

They share the costs of Medicaid with the federal government to provide free healthcare coverage to the poor.

President Obama said he would pay 90% of the Medicaid bill. He then increased it to 95% and then 100% in the first few years in order to induce states to join.

Remember, President Obama’s ultimate goal was to have the federal government be in total control of healthcare with a single party payer system.

Twelve million new people have signed up for Medicaid under Obamacare. Additionally new immigrants have been added to the Medicaid roles.

Only nine million have signed up for Obamacare through the health insurance exchanges. Most of the enrollees have preexisting illness.

Most of the enrollees cannot afford the premiums even though President Obama provides subsides to 85% of these people.

Additionally, these enrollees cannot afford the deductibles that are up to $6,000 in some states.

Obamacare has affected the employer market. Obamacare does not pay the insurers enough or have a high enough enrollment distribution to give the insurance industry a high enough return on investment.

Insurers compensate by increasing insurance rates in the employer sponsored private market in almost all of the states. The industry increased rates in both individual and employer sponsored private market by as much as 116% in Arizona.

This forces small and large employers to decrease insurance coverage for employees.

If they did not provide healthcare insurance many small businesses had to pay Obamacare’s mandated penalty.

A mandated penalty was avoided if people worked less than 29 hours a week. Therefore, large employers reduced full time jobs to part time.

There are many other reasons that Obamacare has failed. It has inhibited economic growth.

Obamacare must be completely repealed.

The Ryan plan’s process is repealing as much of Obamacare as it can through the reconciliation process. This is only the first stage. does.

After passage of the American Healthcare Act, Dr. Tom Price will then move on to part two.

He will repeal all the administrative rules and regulations that President Obama and Donald Berwick put in place that hurt Americans and the economy.

He will replace them (one regulation for two eliminated) that will help people obtain affordable healthcare insurance and help our economy grow.

Republicans opposed to the Ryan plan do not seem to get this point.

If Republicans could get total repeal through the House of Representatives with they would not get the 60 votes necessary to get Senate approval.

In stage three Republicans will be able to get the 60 votes necessary for Senate approval.

There are 18 vulnerable Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018.

With Obamacare’s rules and regulations repealed at that time, Democrats’ opposition to things like expanded Health Savings Accounts, malpractice Reform, insurance Reform and insurance across state lines will melt. It will be important for these vulnerable Democrats to vote for these reforms in order to get reelected..

The Ryan plan now looks like an excellent strategy to me. I do not see why the opposition Republicans cannot see it.

Doing it their way with complete repeal a stage one might not work. Then will be stuck with Obamacare and the loss of both Republican controlled of the house and senate in 2018.

There are still refinements necessary to be a consumer driven healthcare plan that is patient-centered.

I hope the Ryan/Price plan is passed by congress.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

The bill continues to allow the government and the healthcare insurance companies to drive the cost and the healthcare system.

The Republican bill does not provide incentives for consumers to use their healthcare dollars wisely.

It does not include malpractice reform.

If President Trump buys the nonsense Republicans are calling a repeal and replacement for Obamacare, then the RINO’s have pulled the wool over his eyes.

It would be a gigantic mistake to push this bill in its present form. You would be producing political capital for the politically bankrupt Democrats.

This bill is a typical bait and switch. Rand Paul is correct. It is Obamacare lite.

It does not put consumers in charge. It keeps the healthcare insurance industry in full control of medicine, healthcare and the government.

Rather than discontinuing an entitlement it creates another one.

Refundable tax credit is another term for redistribution of wealth. You give money to everyone. You then take it back from some and let the others have it.

It does not repeal most of the Obamacare regulations.

It extends many of the programs past 2019.

President Trump, it does not help drain the swamp as you promised. It makes the swamp worse.

The insurance companies are not returned to a free market. It is a clever way to support the insurance companies by switching from a mandate and penalty to a tax credit (giving the money away to everyone).

This is another entitlement to further enrich the healthcare insurance industry.

Americans elected these Republican politicians to drain the swamp. This bill is no different than Obamacare.

“Refundable” tax credits – for those who don’t owe taxes – are still a subsidy. It is still redistribution of wealth, with winners (those who get the subsidy) and losers (those who pay for it). And the chief winner is the “health plan.” It gets money; the supposed beneficiary may get nothing, or only rationed care from a narrow network.

It is trying to generate doubt about the wisdom of his replacement bill for Obamacare with the following statements that the public doesn’t understand.

2. He will force reimbursement tied to outcomes and related value-based models.

3. He wants doctors in control of the healthcare system

4. He wants tort reform.

5. He wants doctors paid from insurers with fewer hurdles and less barriers.

The healthcare insurance companies are terrified of the abbreviated blueprint. The blueprint represents a threat to the healthcare insurance industry’s power over the healthcare system in both the government and the private insurance sectors.

The mainstream media is babbling about a lack of harmony in the Republican Party. In the next few weeks we are going to hear how disorganized the Republicans in congress are.

Democrats claim the Republicans do not have anything better than Obamacare. They are starting to make up stories about what the Republicans do or do not have. Everything is designed to make the public nervous about President Trump and his administration. These stories are parroted by the Democrat’s ally, the mainstream media.

Meanwhile, the Democrats, the mainstream media, and the public do not know what will be in the replacement act after Obamacare is repealed.

President Trump. Paul Ryan and Tom Price know if all the details are released now most of it would be attacked out of context by the mainstream media.

The Democrats’ goal would be to make the public uncertain about the Republican replacement bill. The Democratic ally, the mainstream media, is all ready spreading the misinformation about the replacement without knowing what is in it.

I even saw a poll published in the mainstream media that said more people like Obamacare than don’t like it.

This is a fake poll. It does not represent the sentiment of the majority of the people.

The political chicanery on the part of the Democrats and the biased mainstream media can be overwhelming.

I do not think the political chicanery is going to overwhelm the public, President Trump or Paul Ryan. I believe they have figured out the Democrats and the media.

Some Republicans have a slightly different opinion on how Obamacare should be replaced. Political action groups oppose some of the methodology being used to replace Obamacare.

“They also are deeply opposed to a commitment to temporarily maintain an expanded form of Medicaid, as numerous GOP governors are demanding.”

Paul Ryan is trying to transition out of Obamacare so that the 11 million new Medicaid patients and the 9 million Obamacare patients do not lose their insurance as the new Republican plan is put in place. Someone does not understand the word temporary.

Several in congress want immediate repeal and replacement. I believe this will give the Democrats more fuel for the fire to subvert anything Republicans are trying to accomplish.

“To the extent that they’re doing something else with this plan other than full repeal, the concerns that conservatives in the House are expressing are completely valid,” said Michael Needham, chief executive of Heritage Action.”

It is important to remember that190 million Americans and their families receive healthcare insurance from their employers. Obamacare has negatively affected employers. The increases in costs, access, deductibles and coverage provided by employers have negatively impacted employees.

Both are demanding relief. These people, at town hall meetings, have made it clear to the Republican congressmen and Senators not to slow down Paul Ryan and President Trump. They want relief and they want it fast.

I believe President Trump will help Paul Ryan get a bill through congress that will provide relief for the entire population.

Hopefully, they have included some of my suggestions.

I am certain that Republicans will work out their differences before they present the bill to the people and the congress.

It the meantime I would suggest that Republics and Democrats keep the noise of the demagoguery down.

The United States of America desperately needs a financially sustainable healthcare system that will provide everyone with access to affordable healthcare.

I have a feeling most people do not know what physicians mean by patient-centered healthcare.

The true definition is that patients are in the center of the medical care interaction. Patients determine their needs and their physicians. Patients drive the medical encounter. Neither the government nor the insurance industries drive the medical encounter.

A fatal floor in Obamacare was that President Obama wanted the federal government to control the healthcare system.

President Trump’s goal is to have patients in control of their own health and healthcare dollars. It is not a problem if the government or employers provide those healthcare dollars.

I believe Tom Price M.D. understands that the only system that will work is a system in which the consumers (patients) are responsible for their own health and healthcare dollars.

The government’s job is to provide incentives in the healthcare system for consumers to become responsible for their health and healthcare dollars.

I am not at all sure the Republican congressional leadership understands the definition or value of patient- centered care.

Obamacare provided just the opposite. Obamacare provided incentives for consumers/patients to be dependent of government.

This fundamental tenet of patient-centered care was tested by Stewart, et.al. in 2000.

Experts studied audio taped doctor-patient interactions while patients also rated these same interactions.

Expert opinion could not be correlated with positive results, but patient-perceived patient-centered care correlated with “better recovery from their discomfort and concern, better emotional health.

Most of the Republicans are talking about patient centered healthcare. However, they start and end with Health Savings Accounts and Consumer Driven Healthcare.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist defined patient-centered healthcare in its diabetes guidelines of 1996 and 2002. (on request)

The guidelines were a System of Intensive Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The Type 2 Diabetic was taught to become a “professor of his/her diabetes.”

The goal was to get the diabetic blood sugar as close to normal as possible. It was shown that normalizing the blood sugar helped avoided the vascular complication of diabetes. The treatment of the vascular complications of diabetes absorbed 80% of the money spent on diabetes.

Patients live with their disease 24/7. Blood sugars are very variable. Patients need to learn how to adjust to these variables by managing their medications and lifestyle.

Patients taking a pill or a shot will not control their blood sugar unless they understand the medication and how to adjust it to have the greatest affect on the blood sugar.

The only way a patient can understand how to control their blood sugar is for them to understand how their blood sugar affects the effectiveness of the medication and how their medications and lifestyle affects their blood sugar.

This same phenomenon applies to most chronic diseases.

The only way to decrease the complications of chronic diseases is for patient to drive the treatment of their disease.

This in turn will be the only way to control healthcare costs. This is what I mean when I say patients should be in control of their health.

As an added incentive to control costs, patients should be in control of their healthcare dollars so they figure out how to use medication most affectively.

“In 2001, The Institute of Medicine published a book called Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century.”

“In it, the institute identified six aims for improvement of healthcare delivery, one of which was “patient-centered care,” defined as “providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.”

The Institute of Medicine’s definition moves patients’ needs and attitudes toward patients being in the center of care. It does not place them as responsible for the management of their care. It does not include patients’ responsibility for their care.

All four of the endocrinologists got close to the definition of patient centered care. Only Carol Greenlee, MD, FACE, FACP, of Western Slope Endocrinology in Grand Junction, Colorado nailed the definition. Dr. Greenlee is the only physician in private practice.

She said:

“One of the most important things is partnership with the patient and what is called “contextualized” care, which means taking into account a patient’s needs and circumstances, goals and values.

It is also called developing a physician/patient relationship.

Another aspect is moving from the physician being at the center of the care model, with staff working to help the physician (doing tasks for the physician or other clinician such as “rooming” the patient or “scheduling” the patient for the clinician) to the staff also “taking care of the patient” as their job, with different roles on the patient-centered care team (getting the patient in for a needed appointment).

It is doing what is best for the patient (not giving the patient what they want, e.g. pain meds, MRI, antibiotics) or ask for (those things are not often best for the patient, but takes time to discuss through).

It’s taking our best science and knowledge and technology and then adapting it to meet the patient’s unique needs, circumstances, values, and goals.

It requires clearing up misconceptions (such as asking what the patient currently understands about a condition or a test or treatment), helping discuss risks and benefits in the context of that individual patient.

It requires asking not just telling, but it is not dumping everything back on to the patient.

It is taking into account the “work” (the job) of care (self-care that the patient or family need to do) on top of the illness and the rest of life that the patient and their family have to deal with and do (i.e. consideration)

Most clinicians think that they are already patient-centered because they care about their patients.

But that does not mean they provide patient-centered care or practice in a patient-centered approach.

I thought I was patient-centered because I cared but then I had to uproot my mental model to really become patient-centered.”

Republicans and their advisors do not understand the meaning of the concept of patient centered care.

Tom Price M.D. understands the concept of patient centered care.

Without the patient being in the center of the management of his/her care, the healthcare system can never be repaired and will never be financially sustainable.

I hope President Trump gets the concept in spite of the advice from congressional Republican and Democrats. Congress is trying to satisfy all the secondary vested interests. Healthcare is a big business with many secondary stakeholders. They do not want to lose this important profit center.

These stakeholders are better organized than patients or physicians to influence healthcare policy makers.

The primary stakeholders are patients with their head coaches and assistant coaches being physicians and their healthcare team.

Patients must be in the center of the healthcare team because they are the only ones that can influences the cost of medical care.

Sixty-three percent of men and 55% of women had a body mass index of 25 kg/m2 or greater.

A graded increase in the prevalence ratio (PR) was observed with increasing severity of overweight and obesity for all of the health outcomes except for coronary heart disease in men and high blood cholesterol level in both men and women.

With normal-weight individuals as the reference, for individuals with BMIs of at least 40 kg/m2 and who were younger than 55 years, PRs were highest for type 2 diabetes for men (PR, 18.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.7-46.8)

These complications include microvascular and macrovascular disorders. The macrovascular complications, which are well recognized in patients with longstanding diabetes or hypertension, include coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, congestive heart failure, and peripheral vascular disease.

Although microvascular complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) are conventionally linked to hyperglycemia, studies have shown that hypertension constitutes an important risk factor, especially for nephropathy.

Eighty percent of the treatment costs for diabetes and hypertension to the healthcare system is the result of the treatment of the complications of hypertension and diabetes.

In order for a healthcare system to be sustainable diabetes and hypertension must be cured. It is essential that each must be recognized early and treated aggressively.

Equally important is the morbidity resulting from the complications of diabetes and hypertension, two diseases that result from obesity.

Complications from the onset of both hypertension and diabetes take about eight years to develop. This is the reason to diagnose and discover Pre-Diabetes at the onset.

The shared lifestyle factors in the etiology of hypertension and diabetes provide ample opportunity for non-pharmacological intervention.

Thus, the initial approach to the management of bothdiabetes and hypertension must emphasize weight control, physical activity, and dietary modification.

Lifestyle intervention is remarkably effective in the primary prevention of diabetes and hypertension. These principles also are pertinent to the prevention of downstream macrovascular complications of the two disorders.

This is the where my story of the importance of personal responsibility comes in.

A restaurateur, in his early 50’s, who runs a large restaurant in Dallas, that I frequent, was slowly gaining weight. At 269 lbs. he had difficulty standing on his feet all day long. He was being treated for hypertension and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol).

His physician told him he must lose weight. He informed him of his risk factors for the complications of these diseases.

This was all he needed hear. The thought of having to quit the job he loved and the possibility of dying from the complications of his diseases was enough to make him decide to loss the weight.

He was told he would be fine if he lost the weight.

He has lost 70 lbs.so far without assistence. He has decided to be personally responsible for his weight loss.

He now gets up at 5 am each morning and exercises for one hour each day before work.

He has stopped eating his wonderful pasta dishes. He eats nothing that is white.

Every time I meet a friend at the restaurant, the restaurateur sits down at our table for a chat. We usually talk about how great he is doing in the weight loss department.

I had initiated an obesity program at Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A. in the mid 1980s. A California clinical endocrinologist, with whom I did my endocrine fellowship with, had a very successful obesity program. He convinced me to start one at EAD.

Patients on large doses of insulin were totally off insulin after two weeks. It was successful until the patients graduated from the program.

Unfortunately the recidivism rate (regaining weight) was around 80%. This rate was not dissimilar to the national overage at the time.

EAD stopped the program.

In my view there were not enough patients who turned the corner and stuck to the program.

I believe the restaurateur has turned the corner. This fellow has turned the personal responsibility corner to control his food intake and exercise output. I do not believe he will regain his weight.

He has exhibited personal responsibility for his health and well-being.

If only physicians could solve the obesity problem so easily, the cost of healthcare would plummet to sustainable levels.

The development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus would also plummet and the cost of the treatment of its complications would vanish.

Social change is necessary in restaurants and fast food chains.

People have to be taught to eat wisely in restaurants and at home.

People have to be provided with education about the perils of obesity.

People have to understand the natural history of obesity.

People have to be motivated to not only maintain their health. They have to be given financial incentives to control their health.

This can only be achieved with a consumer driven healthcare system in which people are provided with incentives to control their healthcare dollars.

I hope all the features of a healthcare plan missing from President Obama’s healthcare plan are included in President Trump’s healthcare plan. I believe Dr. Tom Price knows most of what needs to be included. He also knows that Obamacare is a disaster. It must be repealed.

I believe the critical element necessary for Repairing the Healthcare System is the development of a healthcare system in which consumers are responsible for their health and healthcare dollars.

This is the main reason Obamacare needs to be repealed. Obamacare makes consumers of healthcare dependent on the government and less responsible for their own healthcare.

Joan Colgin R.N. was Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A.’s first fulltime Diabetes Educator. I nominated her for Diabetes Educator of the year some years back. She came out second to a woman who was trying to provide diabetes education to an indigent population. Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A. was providing effective Diabetes Education on a one on one basis to consumers of all socioeconomic groups.

Joan provided Diabetes education to all people who were interested in learning to be responsible for the self-management of their Diabetes Mellitus. Patients live with their disease 24 hours a day and must learn how to manage it.

Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A. was extremely successful in motivating people to be responsible for their own care.

Joan is presently the nurse member of the Texas Diabetes Council. Recently she asked me to publicize the CDC’s new position statement on Pre-Diabetes.

The National Institute of Diabetes (niddk.nih} published Overweight and Obesity statistics:

In my opinion The New York Times has become a biased newspaper. Instead of publishing “all the news fit to print”, it is printing articles and editorials that are biased opinions with incomplete facts.

The Republicans have not introduced their replacement of Obamacare yet this editorial is critiquing the replacements effect on the healthcare system..

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. No one is entitled to his or her made up facts.

This is true. Most of the population seems to agree with this statement.

The only people buying insurance from the health insurance exchanges are people with pre-existing illnesses. These people have no other insurance available.

“Whatever the flaws of these policies (Obamacare), the new Trump administration is trying to pull off a con by offering Americans coverage that is likely to be so much worse that it would barely deserve the name insurance.

It would also leave many millions without the medical care they need.”

How does the New York Times editorial board know this when the Trump administration’s healthcare plan has not been introduced?

The liberal media keeps saying the Republicans have no plan. If Republicans do not have a plan how can the NYT criticize it?

How can a non-existent healthcare plan leave many millions without the medical care they need”?

He looked pained as he described the terrible predicament of people who earned around $30,000 to $50,000 a year and had to deny “themselves the kind of care that they need” because they had Obamacare policies with deductibles of $6,000 to $12,000.

Tom Price M.D. is correct in saying the Obamacare deductibles are $6,000-$12,000. The NYT left out that the Obamacare networks available are restrictive and the access to proper healthcare is difficult.

The NYT editorial board also left out the fact that 85% of people buying healthcare insurance from the health insurance exchanges are subsidized by the government and have a pre-existing illness.

“ Yet, earlier in the same hearing, Mr. Price extolled the virtues of policies that would be woefully inadequate — policies that cover medical treatment only in catastrophic cases.”

Dr. Price was talking about the virtues of health saving accounts without being specific.

The goal of health savings accounts are to put consumers in control of their medical care and healthcare dollars while providing them with financial incentives to save retirement dollars and not waste medical care dollars.

Consumers could have control of what they spend for their own healthcare.

The employer or government would pay for the deductible and the reinsurance above the deductible.

The money would be put in a healthcare trust. The money in the trust would pay for medical care.

If consumers did not spend the money on medical care that year, it would go into a personal saving trust for those consumers retirement.

“ Such policies often have deductibles of around $14,000 for family coverage.”

The government has put so many restrictions on health savings account that employees are hesitant to offer it. The government must remove these restrictions. www.unitedheath.com

“ This is simple hypocrisy. Condemn the policy you don’t like, propose something far worse as a replacement and claim that it is much better”

This paragraph is written to condemn Dr. Price and rile up the anti-Trump forces with false information.

The editorial completely disregards the fact that a proposal has not yet been announced by the Trump administration.

There were 2000 plus pages published about President Obama’s Obamacare proposal. There were glaring defects in he proposal.

The NYT did not comment on these defects at the time. Others did. I turned out that the defects were the source of Obamacare’s failure.

In reality the NYT has no idea of what the Trump administration’s proposal will be.

The NYT editorial also ignores the fact that Obamacare is unsustainable, unaffordable and is restricting access to care while rationing care for the very citizens that need the care.

“Mr. Price and Mr. Trump have recently said that their goal is to offer health care to many more people than are covered by the current health care law, which has driven the uninsured rate to historic lows.”

I believe historic lows are a counting error just as the unemployment rate and the inflation rate are counting errors in order to provide the Obama administration acceptable numbers.

Average people know exactly what is happening.

Mr. Price’s testimony and the legislation he introduced in the House (a few years ago), where until recently he was the Budget Committee chairman,show that the new administration will make decent health care less affordable and less accessible for most people.

The underlined portion is a NYT editorial opinion. It is an opinion without facts or evidence. It could also be a lack of understanding of the bill Dr. Price’s introduced.

How would the NYT know the Trump administration’s healthcare plan would make decent health care less affordable and less accessible for most people?

This is an unsubstantiated bias that would qualify as fake news.

“Those Health Savings Accounts would not help families earning the median household income of $56,000 a year because these families would never be able to sock away enough money.”

The NYT editorial either missed the concept of Health Savings Account totally or is reporting the concept to fit its bias.

The best description of what Mr. Price stands for can be found in a bill he introduced in 2015, the Empowering Patients First Act. It would “empower” Americans by eliminating the health care law’s expansion of Medicaid that has helped more than 10.7 million newly eligible people enroll in that government-run insurance program.

Many of these Medicaid patients cannot find a physician or hospital that accepts Medicaid.

It would also drastically cut subsidies that have helped 11.5 million people purchase private insurance on federal and state health exchanges.

There is no evidence for this wild statement.

Under his bill, people buying insurance for themselves would get between $1,200 and $3,000 a year in subsidies, down from an average of $4,600 that people get now on HealthCare.gov.

The amount of tax benefits or tax credits for Health Savings Accounts have been restricted by Obamacare in order to discourage its use.

The Obama administration wanted to control medical care and eliminate consumer choice and power.

President Obama wanted healthcare decisions to be in the hands of the central government.

The Trump administration plans to modify these restrictions. President Trump has stated he wants to put healthcare decision making back into consumers’ hands and not the government’s hands.

The bill would even get rid of the requirement that allows young people to stay on their parents’ insurance policy until age 26, a provision that is widely popular.

This is totally false and once again fake news.

And it would hurt people who get insurance through their employers by setting a cap on how much of that expense businesses can claim as a deduction on their taxes. Experts say that over time this would encourage companies to stop offering health benefits to workers.

The independent insurance market has not had tax deduction. It should be on a level playing field with group insurance. There is no evidence that the group market will lose its tax deduction.

“When it comes to health care, Mr. Price and other Republicans say their goal is to give people more choices. It is hard to argue against choice. But in the ideological world inhabited by Mr. Price, House Speaker Paul Ryan and many other Republicans, choice is often a euphemism for scrapping sensible regulations that protect people.”

This claim also has no basis in fact. It is pure opinion by the NYT editorial board.

“Some Americans might well be tempted by this far-right approach. They would have to pay less up front for these skeletal policies than they do now for comprehensive coverage.”

Has Obamacare provided comprehensive care? It is unaffordable and inaccessible to all.

But over time, when people need health care to recover from accidents, treat diabetes, have a baby or battle addiction, they will be hit by overwhelming bills.

Where did this come from? It came from a negative bias toward Donald Trump and his administration without facts or evidence.

The Trump administration seems perfectly willing to sell those people down the river with false promises.

People are not stupid. They do not need government to rule their life and make healthcare decisions for them.

People need incentive to control their health and healthcare dollars.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

The U.S. economy is in bad shape despite what President Obama has been telling us. Economic growth has been stagnant with growth at less than 2%.

People are feeling the loss of jobs as factories are closing.

Corporations are moving factories overseas for cheaper labor.

The many unemployed gave up looking of jobs. Full time jobs have been switched to part-time jobs so corporations can avoid the Obamacare mandate. People need to have at least two jobs to make ends meet.

Price inflation continues but is not measured because food and fuel are left out of the inflation calculation.

Inner city unemployment is worse despite President Obama’s saying it is getting better. Neighborhood security has declined. National security is threatened. People do not feel safe.

Obamacare, which was supposed to provide universal healthcare that was affordable to all, was a outright failure both in terms of affordability for individuals and to the national economy.

Yet, the Obama administration, through the mainstream media, keeps telling the people everything is going as planned.

The people could easily see that the administration was tell them a lie. The unemployment rate was reported as being less than 5%.

Americans realized that much of the money for food stamps was being abused. It was discovered that many people were not using the money for food.

Hard working Americans found out that one could collect at least $49,000 non-taxed dollars from the government for not working.

Our foreign policy was in a shambles.

Americans were being told by President Obama that we winning the war. Yet we were losing territory to ISSI and experiencing terrorism both at home and abroad.

Ordinary hard working people were beginning to realize that the tax and spend Democratic Party were ripping them off even if the details of these rip offs were unclear.

Many state governorships and state legislatures were lost to Republicans. Many seats in the U.S. Senate and house were lost to Republicans.

It was clear that the people wanted a change even though they felt the Republican establishment had deceived them previously.

They understood that government was too large. The government bureaucracy consisted of people who could not be fired. These people can obstruct change.

As government grows it employs more people and it becomes more stagnant and less functional.

Along comes Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton was a non-charismatic presidential candidate who received millions of dollars from rich people to buy uninspiring advertising on television.

Her message was that she was going to continue President Obama’s legacy. She missed the point completely.

Donald J. Trump comes along and tells the people they are being ripped off by our own government and by other governments. Our trade deals stink. Other countries are living off our tax dollars because of our government’s stupidity. He promises to fix it.

He says America has to be run like a business. He will bring back jobs, decrease waste, increase the status of our military all around the world and uncover the great energy and potential of America, especially in the decaying inner cities.

It is a great message. Few know how he is going to do it. He is not telling anyone. He says he is going to hire great people to help him. He is going to hire successful people to help him.

He is going to create opportunities for everyone using a free market based economy.

America as been sliding toward a central government controlled economy for many years.

It should be clear to everyone that Keynesan based central controlled economy does not work.

Fredrick Hayek taught us that in 1937. However, few listened.

I think it is because the central government fears a loss of control over the economy and the people. It fears that very smart people can take advantage of an economy if they have the ability initiative and become innovative without government restraints. The government does not want to believe that the free market works.

At the Consumer Electronic Show I saw many companies tying to succeed without government interference.

Why? People want to have the freedom to be innovative and creative.

Maybe the American people believe that Donald Trump is going to give them that opportunity without as many government restraints.

The establishment’s fear is warranted.

My view is the government’s job is to legislate the rules that put everyone on a level playing field. The government should step aside and make sure everyone plays by the rules.

This brings me back to my title, “Come On Guys. Give Them A Chance!”

Donald Trump might just know how to navigate through the swamp of the dysfunctional government bureaucracy.

He doesn’t have to tell us how he is going to do it yet. He just has to do it. He might know how to navigate around America’s bad trade deals.

He might just know how to pick a Secretary of Health and Human Services in the name of Tom Price M.D.. Tom Price M.D. might be the person who can navigate across the failed Obamacare healthcare system.

Tom Price M.D. is a smart and decent man. The Democrats and the media might want to indulge in his character assassination out of fear that he might have a workable plan to repair the healthcare system.

The American people are wise to the Democrats’ tactics.

These tactics will hurt them and not Tom Price M.D..

Maybe he knows how to create a system where if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. If you like your insurance you can keep your insurance. If you like your freedom to choose you can keep that also.

The Democrats, the main stream media and the government bureaucrats should not criticize Donald Trump when the Democrats have failed so miserably. They do not know what the Republicans will propose.

We know what doesn’t work. That is Obamacare!!

Give the new guys a chance!

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

As my readers know every year each of my sons and I go away, separately, for weekend. We love to hang out, catch up with each other and eat plenty of chocolate ice cream.

Brad, my older son, is venture capitalist involved in startup technology companies. I am a retired endocrinologist who is a nerd. I love computer technology.

My wife, Cecelia, insists that I would have gone into compute science rather than medicine if I understood its potential when I was in college.

In my day the computer was a pencil, pencil sharpener and eraser.

My goal has always been to understand how everything works. I love to figure out trends and what will develop in the future.

This was the fifth year that Brad and I went to CES for 5 plus year. We walk the floor together and get a good feel for what is happening.

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Brad made a mistake thinking that the exhibition started January 4,2017. The only flight I could get on when I got my ticket to get in to La Vegas at a reasonable time from Dallas was a 7 am flight. It got me to Las Vegas at 8 am. However, he exhibition started at 10 am January 5th not January 4th.

It was no problem for me. I walked the entire Venetian Hotel and the Paris Hotel. My lunch was chocolate gelato.

Brad got to the Venetian with his partners Lindel Eakman and Ryan McIntyre at 2.30 pm.

Brad then negotiated a 3,000 square foot suite for the both of us. He gave up our two rooms for one.

We were happy and the hotel was happy because they were out of rooms. Now the Venetian Hotel had an extra room to sell.

We then walked from the Venetian to the Sands to get Brad’s registration badge.

On the way back to the Venetian for our afternoon nap stopped for my second chocolate ice cream of the day,

Brad, Ryan, Lindel, Morris Wheeler (a venture capitalist friend of Brad’s) and I had great dinner at the Lake Side in the Wynn Hotel.

My problem was that no one would share a salad or entrée with me. I am a clean plate guy and had much too much food.

I became sleepy after the large dinner that ended at 9 pm Las Vegas time since I had been up since 4.30 am Dallas time.

However, walking back to the hotel I was ready for another chocolate ice cream.

At 8.45 am Thursday we were on the bus to get to LVCC from the Venetian. Las Vegas transportation authority did not create a bus lane. The one and one quarter mile drive took one hour.

I was starving at 9.45 am. I had no breakfast. I found a Nathan’s Hot Dog stand. I bought a hot dog and a coffee. All I needed was the coffee. The hot dog was great. The coffee was undrinkable. I threw it. away.

CES seems to grow each year. This year it covered 2.5 million square feet of showroom space. It is a formidable challenge to walk 2.5 million square feet and see all the products of all the vendors.

I covered 9 miles a day for 3 days according to my Fit Bit.

The largest venue is the (LVCC) Las Vegas Convention Center. The Sands Convention Center was the second largest venue.

LVCC was where the big guys hang out. This year the automated automobile dominated.

For the first three hours we went from exhibit to exhibit quickly.

Brad was forever looking for patterns of innovation. Every few feet someone stopped Brad to ask him a question.

Many wanted to take a picture of Brad with them. Many wanted to take a picture of Brad and me.

The autos in the exhibits were phenomenal. Some of the sensor technology was otherworldly.

I was most impressed with the 3 D printed motorcycle.

A splendid exhibit at LVCC was a small exhibit by Sphero the creator of DB 8 and other Spheros one can control with a smart phone.

Brad is a major investor in Sphero, which originated as a TechStars start-up company.

We were led into the inner sanctum exhibit by Paul Berberian`, the CEO, to see the new products coming out in 2017.

There will be several new products that I believe will be big hits for both kids and adults in the next nine months.

The Sands Convention Center was the exhibit hall for all the start-ups and near start-ups exhibiting.

Eureka Park was where all the action and excitement was for me at CES.

Eureka Park was start-up heaven. This year CES outsourced Eureka Park’s development to TechStars. There were bout 600 vendors this year. Next year TechStars anticipates doubling the exhibitors in Eureka Park.

Brad was scheduled to interview James Park co-founder of Fit Bit at 1 p.m. After the interview I had my lunch in the TechStars green room. It was strawberry yogurt with a bunch of green and white TechStars M&M in the yogurt.

So far it has been a terrible eating day.

After lunch we continued in Eureka Park until 4 pm.

Was anyone tired yet?

We were scheduled to go to the YPO meeting in the LYNKS Hotel after Eureka Park.

Brad met a couple of people as a favor to YPO’s CEO.

The hotel was advertised as being only 1 hotel away from the Venetian. The problem was it was over a mile away from the Sands in the bitter cold. I was done when we got there.

The next get together was a Foundry Group get together in a Mexican restaurant at the Venetian. It was a lot of fun. I spoke to lots of people and met lots of new people.

I was on running on empty. The wonderful people at TechStars begged me to come to their dinner that I was invited to. I tried but had to bale out for a good night's sleep.

After a great night’s sleep I was determined to have a mellow day. It just did not happen. There were too many things to see and absorb.

I went to Brad’s panel on Diversity.

I spent a lot of time in the area of micro-sensors and their use. We have not seen anything yet folks.

I am extending my discussion on the importance of malpractice reform because politicians ignore the potential costs and decreased access of care resulting from the present system. By having a greater understanding of the facts, I know you will not ignore this important area.

The American Medical Association removed Texas from its list of states experiencing a liability crisis; marking the first time it has removed any state from the list.

A survey by the Texas Medical Association also found a dramatic increase in physicians’ willingness to resume certain procedures they had stopped performing, including obstetrics, neurosurgical, radiation and oncological procedures during the Texas malpractice crisis.

Two simple changes in the tort laws made malpractice suits unprofitable for plaintiff attorneys.

Rick Perry has been so impressed with the results of his tort reforms that he wanted to extend his state's impressive tort reform record.

The authors state that the dollar estimates do not include the diagnostic procedures, hospital admissions, specialty referrals and consultations, or unnecessary prescriptions by physicians in specialties not included in the study.

The eight specialties surveyed represent only 46% of the physicians in the Massachusetts. The real costs to the healthcare system from the practice defensive medicine in the state of Massachusetts are much higher.

I believe the costs of defensive medicine in many other states are also much higher because in many states malpractice awards are higher. This encourages litigation.

President-elect Trump, defensive medicine is a huge burden nationally to the healthcare system. Its costs will undermine any attempt at healthcare reform. You must take medical malpractice liability reform seriously. There has to be a fundamental change in the structure of adjudication.

The survey’s findings must be studied carefully. The physicians surveyed estimated their percentages for defensive medicine testing to avoid lawsuits.

The real percentages can be studied objectively using big data. . Nonetheless the current estimates reveal unsustainable waste in our dysfunctional healthcare system.

Radiological imaging is one tool overused by physicians defensively to avoid litigation. Physicians feel they must test everything even if the probability of a positive result is insignificant.

“Plain Film X-Rays: An average of 22% of X-rays were ordered for defensive reasons.”

“CT Scans: An average of 28% of CT scans were motivated by liability concerns, with major differences among specialties.”

About 33% of scans ordered by obstetricians/ gynecologists, emergency physicians, and family practitioners were done for defensive reasons.

The total number of unnecessary CT scans needs to be calculated along with its costs in order to understand the significance of the percentage presented.

The health policy solution should not be to lower the reimbursement for CT scans. The solution is to fix the medical malpractice liability system.

MRI Studies: An average of 27% of MRIs were ordered for defensive reasons, with significant differences by specialty.

Obstetricians/ gynecologists, general surgeons, and family practitioners reported the highest rates, with the lowest rates by neurosurgeons and emergency physicians.

Ultrasound Studies: An average of 24% of Ultrasounds were ordered for defensive reasons. Orthopedic surgeons (33%) and obstetricians/gynecologists (28%) reported the highest rates, with neurosurgeons (6%) and anesthesiologists (9%) the lowest.

I believe neurosurgeons are underestimating their use of radiologic procedures in order to look good. Neurosurgery is one of the specialties with the highest malpractice rates.

Please note that obstetricians/gynecologists take no chances and order the most procedures for defensive purposes.

Laboratory Testing:

An average of 18% of laboratory tests were ordered for defensive reasons, with emergency physicians (25%) reporting the highest rates and neurosurgeons (7%) the lowest.

Specialty referrals, consultations and hospitalizations are overused the most for defensive reasons. No one wants to take a chance and send the patient home even if the indication for hospitalization is small.

Specialty Referrals and Consultations“An average of 28% of specialty referrals and consultations were motivated by liability concerns, with significant differences by specialty.

Obstetricians/gynecologists reported that 40% of their referrals and consultations were done for defensive reasons, and anesthesiologists and family practitioners said that 33% of their referrals and consultations were done for the same reasons.”

Hospital Admissions:

An average of 13% of hospital admissions were motivated by liability concerns, with surgical specialties reporting lower rates than the other specialties.

The cost of defensive medicine is very high and extremely wasteful.

The repair of the dysfunctional malpractice system is simple. The system must decrease financial incentives for plaintiff’s attorneys to file frivolous lawsuits.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

I am extending my discussion on the importance of malpractice reform because politicians ignore the potential costs and decreased access of care resulting from the present system. By having a greater understanding of the facts, I know you will not ignore this important area.

The American Medical Association removed Texas from its list of states experiencing a liability crisis; marking the first time it has removed any state from the list.

A survey by the Texas Medical Association also found a dramatic increase in physicians’ willingness to resume certain procedures they had stopped performing, including obstetrics, neurosurgical, radiation and oncological procedures during the Texas malpractice crisis.

Two simple changes in the tort laws made malpractice suits unprofitable for plaintiff attorneys.

Rick Perry has been so impressed with the results of his tort reforms that he wanted to extend his state's impressive tort reform record.

The authors state that the dollar estimates do not include the diagnostic procedures, hospital admissions, specialty referrals and consultations, or unnecessary prescriptions by physicians in specialties not included in the study.

The eight specialties surveyed represent only 46% of the physicians in the Massachusetts. The real costs to the healthcare system from the practice defensive medicine in the state of Massachusetts are much higher.

I believe the costs of defensive medicine in many other states are also much higher because in many states malpractice awards are higher. This encourages litigation.

President-elect Trump, defensive medicine is a huge burden nationally to the healthcare system. Its costs will undermine any attempt at healthcare reform. You must take medical malpractice liability reform seriously. There has to be a fundamental change in the structure of adjudication.

The survey’s findings must be studied carefully. The physicians surveyed estimated their percentages for defensive medicine testing to avoid lawsuits.

The real percentages can be studied objectively using big data. . Nonetheless the current estimates reveal unsustainable waste in our dysfunctional healthcare system.

Radiological imaging is one tool overused by physicians defensively to avoid litigation. Physicians feel they must test everything even if the probability of a positive result is insignificant.

“Plain Film X-Rays: An average of 22% of X-rays were ordered for defensive reasons.”

“CT Scans: An average of 28% of CT scans were motivated by liability concerns, with major differences among specialties.”

About 33% of scans ordered by obstetricians/ gynecologists, emergency physicians, and family practitioners were done for defensive reasons.

The total number of unnecessary CT scans needs to be calculated along with its costs in order to understand the significance of the percentage presented.

The health policy solution should not be to lower the reimbursement for CT scans. The solution is to fix the medical malpractice liability system.

MRI Studies: An average of 27% of MRIs were ordered for defensive reasons, with significant differences by specialty.

Obstetricians/ gynecologists, general surgeons, and family practitioners reported the highest rates, with the lowest rates by neurosurgeons and emergency physicians.

Ultrasound Studies: An average of 24% of Ultrasounds were ordered for defensive reasons. Orthopedic surgeons (33%) and obstetricians/gynecologists (28%) reported the highest rates, with neurosurgeons (6%) and anesthesiologists (9%) the lowest.

I believe neurosurgeons are underestimating their use of radiologic procedures in order to look good. Neurosurgery is one of the specialties with the highest malpractice rates.

Please note that obstetricians/gynecologists take no chances and order the most procedures for defensive purposes.

Laboratory Testing:

An average of 18% of laboratory tests were ordered for defensive reasons, with emergency physicians (25%) reporting the highest rates and neurosurgeons (7%) the lowest.

Specialty referrals, consultations and hospitalizations are overused the most for defensive reasons. No one wants to take a chance and send the patient home even if the indication for hospitalization is small.

Specialty Referrals and Consultations“An average of 28% of specialty referrals and consultations were motivated by liability concerns, with significant differences by specialty.

Obstetricians/gynecologists reported that 40% of their referrals and consultations were done for defensive reasons, and anesthesiologists and family practitioners said that 33% of their referrals and consultations were done for the same reasons.”

Hospital Admissions:

An average of 13% of hospital admissions were motivated by liability concerns, with surgical specialties reporting lower rates than the other specialties.

The cost of defensive medicine is very high and extremely wasteful.

The repair of the dysfunctional malpractice system is simple. The system must decrease financial incentives for plaintiff’s attorneys to file frivolous lawsuits.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.

There has been no mention of the importance of tort reform in your proposal to replace Obamacare. President Obama made no mention of tort reform either.

Without medical malpractice reform your administration will not be able to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase the quality of medical care.

It is very difficult to institute malpractice reform. It is in direct opposition to the vested interest of plaintiffs’ malpractice attorneys and malpractice insurance companies. These two group have very powerful lobbies.

I have estimated that there is at least one trillion dollars of waste in our healthcare system because of over-testing, over-treating and over diagnosing as a result of the threat of malpractice lawsuits.

Malpractice insurance and the time and money spent in litigation has to be include in the one trillion dollar estimate. Ezekiel Emanual M.D., Obamacare architect, proposed an artificial threshold of significant cost savings in order to form a policy.

“ A useful threshold for savings is 1 percent of costs of healthcare, which comes to $26 billion a year. Anything less is simply not meaningful.”

One percent is arbitrary. It permits Dr. Emanuel to dismiss problems that cost the healthcare system less than $26 billion a year.

The validity of the data collection is of no concern to Dr. Emanuel. He says only $1.3 billion results in malpractice costs. He ignores over testing, and lawsuit costs.

He said,

“Health care spending in the United States typically increases by about $100 billion per year. Cutting a billion here or there from something that large is undetectable and meaningless.

This legal anxiety is also corrosive to the therapeutic magic of the physician patient relationship.

It would be relatively easy to create new rules that would provide a reliable system of justice for patients harmed by medical treatments and procedures without encouraging costly litigation.

A new and effective tort reform system would decrease the costs of defensive medicine significantly. It would encourage physicians to use of clinical judgment rather than expensive tests. It would improve physician/patient relationships.

Everyone makes mistakes in every walk of life. The medical legal liability threat could result in further unnecessary errors. Physicians, nurses and hospitals are advised not to offer explanations about mistakes. Sometimes errors are concealed to avoid a legal ordeal. The hidden error could be compounded by additional mistakes.

“Even in ordinary daily encounters, an invisible wall separates doctors from their patients. As one pediatrician told me, “You wouldn’t want to say something off the cuff that might be used against you.”

There are cost multipliers created as mistrust accelerates between the patients and physicians. You would like physicians to adopt electronic medical records. Some physicians avoid using EMRs because the information could be misinterpreted and used against them.

The Electronic Medical Record available through hospitals systems or standalone physician practices is used by the government and the insurance industry to verify the treatment in order to guarantee treatment is best practice treatment.

Physicians are producing cut and paste reports to cover best practice observation by a third party rather than the actual encounter with the patient in order to avoid reimbursement penalty or possible liability.

There is an increasing use of second opinions. Every medical problem is requiring multiple unnecessary laboratory tests to rule out something that might have been missed in the evaluation of patients in order to avoid malpractice suits.

An example is a CAT scan done in Emergency Rooms for the slightest head trauma.

“Medical cases are now decided jury by jury, without consistent application of medical standards.

The malpractice insurance companies want to settle the malpractice claims before the court charges mount.

“Nor is the system effective for injured patients — according to the same studies, 54 cents of every dollar paid in malpractice cases goes to administrative expenses like lawyers, experts and courts.”

These are some of the major tort reform issues that must be addressed in effectively.

They must be addressed to decrease wasteful expenditures in the healthcare system.

Malpractice lawsuits have been a growth industry for defense attorneys. The malpractice suits have also been a tremendous psychological and economic burden for physicians who have to defend themselves.

Politically is has been a tremendous economical burden to the healthcare system. In the past politicians have refused to acknowledge the economic burden to the healthcare system.

Malpractice reform is a threat to the vested interests of the defense attorneys and malpractice insurance companies.

Malpractice reform is essential to any meaningful healthcare reform.

President-elect Trump the big question is.

“Do you have the will and the courage to take on the plaintiff attorneys and the malpractice insurance industry in order to correct the medical tort reform system?”

President-elect Trump, if you really want to repair the healthcare system and I believe you do, you must listen to this medical student carefully.

You must realized that patients are not commodities. They are living human beings with emotions as well as concrete illnesses.

Many illnesses and their complications can be avoided if the way to maintain good health is understood by consumers. Cultural changes must occur to decrease the external stimuli that lead to these illnesses including obesity and drug abuse.

It must be recognized that the most important stakeholders in the healthcare system are patients (consumers). A viable healthcare system must be built around patients who have incentives to remain healthy.

Consumers of healthcare depend on physicians. Physicians are the second most important stakeholders in the healthcare system.

Patients depend on physicians to use their expertise and judgment to help them maintain health and to fix them when they get sick. This skill is developed over 6 to 10 years of post-graduate education.

The government, the healthcare insurance companies, the hospital systems, and the pharmaceutical companies are all secondary stakeholders.

Both patients (consumers) and physicians have been devalued by the government’s desire to simply reduce healthcare costs.

Government bureaucracies believe that they can reduce costs by regulating physicians’ “decision making” and “second guess” their clinical judgment.

The federal government is trying to control the healthcare system. The harder the government tries to control the healthcare system the more dysfunctional it becomes.

Some day the federal government is going to realize it costs more in the long run to try to control the two most important stakeholders. (consumers and physicians) than it is to provide financial incentives to consumers to maintain their health.

Society has been programed by government and other secondary stakeholders to consider physicians as healthcare providers.

We are not healthcare providers. We are physicians! Medical student Jacob Chevlen expresses this sentiment perfectly.

“I am a medical school student. Like many of you reading this, my life is spent between the walls of the library and the walls of the clinic.”

I remember being told as a first year medical student that I would have to learn a new language and live a different life than my college friends not going into medicine.

“I was told at the beginning of this journey that it was fair; that it was an “equivalent exchange.”

"You want to lead your patients to healthier relationships — beautiful — I promise you’ll be distanced from your family, friends, and other loved ones.”

One of these statements with its consequences has been true for many physicians I have known through the years.

“We accepted this trade because we are driven to be physicians.”

“Ultimately, it’s a small price to pay to join that sacred society of men and women who devote their lives to healing.”

It is truly a fulfilling emotional experience to have practiced clinical endocrinology for 30 years. I have developed so many wonderful physicians/patient relationships. I know these relationships that I had added to my therapy. These relationships had immensely improved my patients’ treatment outcomes and well-being.

“However, none of us made these sacrifices to be a “provider,” and this is the culture we must fight.”

As President of AACE and subsequent author of Repairing the Healthcare System, I have tried to fight for a cultural change.

Obamacare has devalued physicians and downgraded the physician/patient relationship.

Some of these sick human beings have no interest in listening to a provider when the government or the health insurance company will take care of them when they get sicker.

Consumers who desire to develop a patient/physician relationship are finding they have access. So many physicians have given up on developing physician/patient relationships.

Consumers are now gravitating to concierge physicians in their quest to find a physician that cares and will develop a physician /patient relationship with them.

“Recently, the director of the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation spoke at my medical school.”

It sounds like an agency in Atlas Shrugged to me. The “GOHT” is a mind programing agency whose goal is to manipulate physicians’ minds.

“To enroll in that will give them enhanced reimbursement for reducing costs to Medicaid.”

“Not once during his entire lecture did he use the word “doctor”, when referring to physicians, or advanced practice nurses; he only referred to them as “healthcare providers.”

The “experts” believe that social engineering works. President-elect, you surprised the government, the media and the experts and showed them social engineering does not work. You won the election, didn’t you?

Jacob Chevlan goes on to say;

“Stop.

Have you ever considered what a “provider” is or does?”

“Well, that’s obvious: A provider provides! A provider is the source of a good or service. They disseminate it freely and happily, expecting nothing in return.”

Unimportant is the many years of schooling to develop an understanding of the subtleties of disease, its presentation and treatments.

Physicians’ judgment and patient physician relationships should not be discounted.

“That is how government, insurance companies, and hospitals look at physicians. We are obliging tools, conduits along the path of the flow of money from patients to insurance companies, and insurance companies to hospital systems.”

Medical Student Jacob Chevlan has nailed it President-elect Trump. If you have any chance of Repairing the Healthcare System you should listen to this medical student who has not been involved in the present disillusionment of the practice of medicine.

EMR’s as crafted can easily provide irrelevant false “big data.” EMR’s should be used as a continuing education tool to enhance physicians’ judgment rather than a punishment tool for physicians’ reimbursement.

“ Or the fact that it is illegal to provide pro-bono care to Medicaid or Medicare patients?”

“These and other “innovations” burden physicians and patients, slowing or even completely halting the delivery of care.”

This medical student goes on to say;

“I do not know when physicians allowed themselves to be called “providers,” but I do know that no positive change will happen to our toxic and unsustainable health care system until we stop accepting it.”

I can only hope Mr. President-elect that you take heed and listen to this medical student as your surrogates formulate your replacement for the disaster called Obamacare.

“I am not a “provider school” student. When I graduate, my diploma will not say “provider” on it. It will say “doctor,” and we should accept nothing less.”

Bravo Jacob Chevlan !!!

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.

I thought he cared about Americans and cared about repairing the healthcare system. I wrote six letters to him giving him suggestions on how to repair the healthcare system.

Then, I realized he was not interested in the improved delivery of healthcare to all Americans. He was interested in the central government controlling the healthcare system in order to control the people and limit their freedoms.

Obamacare was the answer to his goal. Most physicians did not agree with his plan. Many felt powerless to object. Many felt they should go along to get along.

Many in the healthcare industry figured that greater government involvement in healthcare financing would lead to its economic benefit.

Everyone has been deceived. Everyone is starting to believe that government managed healthcare leading to a better healthcare for all and a better healthcare system is a myth.

In my letters I tried to explain this to President-elect Obama. My explanation fell on deaf ears.

The Republicans in the House got many things right in its legislation to replace Obamacare. However they have left out the three most important elements necessary to Repair the Healthcare System.

The first is the revival of the physician/patients relationship.

Consumers must control their health and their healthcare dollars. America must have a consumer driven healthcare system.

Consumers can be taught to drive the healthcare system though public service education.

Consumers must be taught through public service education to change their eating and exercising habits. The emphasis must be on the health dangers of obesity and its development.

Secondly, consumers must be given financial incentives as outlined by my Ideal Medical Savings Accounts to control their own health and have access to available care available in necessary.

Third, there must be significant tort reform included in the replacement of Obamacare.

If the Republicans simply send you the bill they have passed in the house and you sign it you will have an impending disaster as large as Obamacare.

If you include my suggestions in your bill, you would excite consumers and physicians. All the people who have been hurt by the failures of Obamacare will cheer you.

The repeal of Obamacare is vital. It should only be replaced with a consumer driven healthcare system that I have outlined. It will be economically sustainable. It would win over all conservatives and independents. It would even make progressives rethink their ideology.

The following is Part 3 of my review of your healthcare reform platform. You have a viable alternative to Obamacare. Your alternative needs some vital additions.

In my last blog I omitted the link proving that only 1 million people signed up for Obamacare health insurance exchanges.

I apologize for the oversight. Today enrollment is only 2.3 million. I also noticed that the enrollment date was extended to January 30 from December 31 without fanfare. The site I omitted that follows daily enrollment is acasignups.net.

Obamacare is still a long way from the 20 million claimed and the actual 10 million enrolled for 12 months.

The Obama “experts” still believe that Obamacare is viable. They refuse to believe it has been a healthcare disaster as well as a disaster for America’s economy.

Your next proposal is;

Allow individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Contributions into HSAs should be tax-free and should be allowed to accumulate.

The contribution to the MSA should be flexible to provide an adequate amount of money to be put into the savings accounts to provide financial incentivizes to consumers to maintain their health.

Obesity is a huge problem to health maintenance of health. Obesity can be effectively cured behavioral change of consumers.

The incidence of chronic diseases in obese people is five times that of normal weight people. Financial incentives must be provided. The is also the area that social engineering might be helpful.

Obese children are becoming diabetic and hypertensive at a young age. This must be prevented because of the potential explosive cost effect of complications of both diabetes and hypertension on individuals. The overall costs to patients, Medicaid and society will be devastating.

Medicaid must be converted to a system where the recipients are responsible for their health with financial incentives. Only then Medicaid patients will not be treated as a commodity. Service will improve. .

Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals.

Price transparency is an essential provision for individuals, businesses and groups in order to produce smart consumers of healthcare.

It is also necessary to require insurance companies to provide verifiable price transparency for their administrative costs and their direct patient care costs.

Consumers must be empowered to be responsible and shop for the best healthcare service value. They must look for the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical related procedure.

The only way to decrease the cost of healthcare services is to produce smart and motivated consumers of healthcare.

Federal and state governments should help their citizens choose safe, reliable and cheaper products for the treatment of their diseases.

This would help with compliance and adherence to recommended treatment and also decrease the cost of care.

It would provide consumers with information to take responsibility for their own health and healthcare dollars.

Encourage Congress to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America.

One example is allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas. It will stimulate competition for consumer dollars in the U.S. and lower the cost of brand and generic drugs sold here. Drug prices are artificially high in the U.S.

This is only one example of many ways to decrease the cost of drugs in this country.

You have made many proposals to make a lot of important changes to the healthcare system.

Some are good proposals. Some are not very well thought out by your advisors.

However, you are missing the other important elements in reforming the healthcare system. Those elements are the elements of the use of consumer power, consumer initiatives, and consumer incentives.

By utilizing these elements you will begin to “Drain the Healthcare Swamp.”

Your healthcare changes must include a consumer driven system with an ideal medical saving account. Otherwise, the healthcare system will remain an unmanageable, expensive and abused mess.

You have admitted these proposals are simply a start. You can easily fall into the trap of listening to academicians who have never practiced medicine in a private setting. You need people who understand patients’ needs.

Obamacare has been a disaster that is unsustainable. It is increasing the cost of care week by week, while rationing care and decreasing access to care.

You must repeal and replace Obamacare. No one wants it. You have outlined a viable proposal even if the progressives don’t like it.

It is a good start.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.

I am going to review your healthcare reform platform for those liberal “experts” that have determined you do not have a viable alternative to Obamacare.

It must be noted that President Obama’s healthcare “experts” created a non-viable and expensive healthcare reform disaster.

Only 1 million of the 20 million the Obama administration brags have signed up on the health insurance exchanges this year have actually signed up. There are only 6 weeks of open enrollment to go until January 1,2017.

You want congress to;

Completely repeal Obamacare.

You have not told us how you are going to do it. It has to be repealed. I trust you will find a way.

2. Eliminate the individual mandate (tax according to the Supreme Court).

No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to. This is a basic freedom of choice.

3. Modify the existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines.

You are assuming that eliminating state line restrictions will allow full competition in the healthcare insurance market place.

You assume this step will allow insurance premiums to decrease.

The healthcare insurance companies will try to keep the insurance premiums high in all states even though there are demographic and health risk differences.

At present, Medicare outsourcing administrative services to various health insurance companies does the adjudication of claims. I assume the job go to the lowest bidder.

The insurance companies typically take 40% off the top for administrative fees. Many of those fees are bogus. Medicare and Medicaid are being ripped off. The government must know it but nonetheless permits it.

Only a consumer driven local system can work to lower costs. It can only work if all price information is transparent to consumers. Consumers can the shop for physicians and coverage they need using their own dollars.

You are ignoring the huge problems in keeping premiums down and competition high with selling insurance across state lines.

“The barriers to entry for the insurance industry providing healthcare insurance across state lines are not truly regulatory, they are financial and they are network producing,” Sabrina Corlette, the director of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute told the New York Times last year.

“Consumers need to have an adequate network of doctors and hospitals in order to get the care they need and that means insurers have to spend more money to pay these providers.”

“ Since it’s a costly proposition for the insurers to build these networks of doctors and hospitals in new regions, health plans aren’t generally willing to enter new markets, analysts say.”

The government should act as the funding agent for the eligible poor. This will put the poor on the same payment footing as everyone else in the Medical Savings Account System.

The Medicaid eligible poor should be given financial incentives to take charge of their health and healthcare dollars.

At present they struggle to see a physician only when they are sick. The system increases the total cost of healthcare.

Our healthcare system must be moved from a system that fixes you when you are sick or broken into a system that rewards people financially for remaining healthy and controlling their healthcare spending.

It is much cheaper to avoid the cost of emergency care than it is to get sick and have to go to the emergency room.

Review of your healthcare reform proposals will continue in my next letter to you.

In the meantime have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.

I have done that with Daniel and Brad once a year for at least the last decade.

Daniel picked L.A. this year then, he changed his mind. He wanted to go to Atlanta. He had Tech Stars business in Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday and his 25th Emory homecoming on Saturday.

He figured he would kill three birds with one stone. I would love mingling with young people (47 year olds) at the 25th college reunion.

The plan was to meet up on Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm at the Atlanta airport.

I would go to Atlanta Thursday morning and spend twenty-four hours with one of my best friends Dr. Albert Padwa, Professor Emeritus at Emory University, now an accomplished artist/sculptor.

Al and I have been buddies since the second grade at P.S.70 in the Bronx. We both went to Wade Jr. High School and Taft High School in the Bronx.

We competed with each other in a very friendly way. We were considered the smartest kids in the class.

We both went to Columbia College and graduated in the Class of 59. I went on to Medical School. Al got a PhD in Chemistry. He did that instead of medicine because he could not tolerate the sight of blood.

He became a famous free radical organic chemist at Emory University.

We have been pals for 73 years.

When Daniel went to Emory as an undergraduate Al and his wife looked after him.

Al and I spent a great day together going over old times and some old adventures.

First, we went to Emory’s chemistry building to see his mobiles. He has mobiles all over the new chemistry building. They are truly excellent.

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Next, we went to his house to see his mobiles and stabiles. I fell in love with two of them. I think he will give me one of his stabiles for my backyard.

I showed Brad my pictures of Al’s work. He wants to buy one.

On Friday morning we went to Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park is one of the great botanical gardens in the world.

Large Cities are finally figuring out how to make themselves livable.

On the trail we had lunch in an old reconditioned factory. I had a delicious shrimp roll.

Then, we then drove out to the airport to pick up Daniel. Al wanted to hang out with Daniel in the afternoon. We had a great time finding an ice cream parlor in Al’s neighborhood the Virginia Highlands.

As soon as we walked into the lobby we saw a bunch of Daniel’s fraternity brothers. I knew most of them. We shot the bull for a while (2 hours) before we ever got to our room.

We went downstairs immediately because we were now late in getting to Kenny and Lisa Feld’s house.

Kenny is my brother Charlie Feld’s son. Daniel is one year older than Kenny. I love Kenny and Lisa.

Brad is one year older than Jon, Charlie’s other son.

The boys spent many weekends together when Cecelia and I left town for a date weekend. Charlie and his wife took care of my kids. Each couple watched the other couple’s kids for date weekends.

We have a wonderful evening with them and their two kids, Sidney and Dillon.

Kenny then drove us to some bar near Virginia Highlands for the first official homecoming event. Daniel’s class had a bigger representation than most of the other reunion years.

The opening event was much different than my 25th Reunion at Columbia. I had fun at the Emory Reunion opening night. The noise was deafening.

We went back to the hotel via Uber. The Uber driver convinced me to download Waze. It is an excellent GPS. Waze is one hundred times better than the GPS in both my Lexus’. Lexus needs to learn something from them.

At ten am Saturday morning we were on the way to the World of Coca Cola. I have been to Atlanta several times but have never been to the World of Coca-Cola.

My visits have always been for business. I never made time to visit Atlanta for fun. Daniel and I had a great time tasting all the Coca Cola products produced all over the world. Frankly, some of them were awful. However, I am sure they fit the taste of that individual country.

The most precious time was just talking to each other about life goals and our philosophy of life.

Next stop was a Mexican fast food place in downtown Atlanta. It was better than I had expected.

After lunch we walked across the park to the National Collegiate Hall of Fame. I did not know it existed. I enjoyed that very much.

I picked out the Columbia College helmet. We always had the worst team in the Ivy League. The museum had all the helmets of all the collegiate leagues and biographies of all the college stars in the Hall of Fame.

It was over 90 degrees when we went to the Emory Reunion Lawn Party. I was so hot I lasted only about an hour. The instructions I got to get back to the hotel were terrible. After a two-hour hike I stopped a woman to ask how far the hotel was from here. We got into a nice conversation as she started walking me to the hotel.

We passed her car on the way to the hotel. She said “why don’t I drive you to the hotel?”

I guess she saw how overheated I was and how horrible I looked. I accepted with great relief.

In the hotel room I took a cold shower. I remembered my days at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas when someone would come into the ER with heat stroke and we put them in an ice cube filled bathtub.

I feel much better in ten minutes.

Daniel came home just before the next event. He needed a cold shower too.

Down to the lobby and off to Turner Field for the next event. It is all about reuniting will friends, some of whom you haven’t seen in 25 years.

The barbeque was good but not as good as Sonny Bryan’s or Dickey’s in Dallas.

The conversations were wonderful. Daniel’s classmates (men and women) were as dressed up as you can be in 2016.

I had a great time that weekend. In the hotel room Daniel and I talked for a while. I was off to the airport relatively early on Sunday having once again spending a wonderful weekend with one of my sons.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.